The "rubber banding" patent is being rejected because it lacks novelty, says Mueller. Mikey Campbell at Apple Insider adds that the patent is being rejected because there is a similar patent from AOL, and it's not clear Apple added much with its rubber banding patent.

The "rubber banding" patent covers a rather minor action on Apple products. If you open Safari and scroll to the top of the page, then pull down, you see a background behind the web page. When you pull down on the page, it's like it's attached with a rubber band. This doesn't work only on Safari, it's across iOS apps. While it's a minor action, it's one of the small touches that makes iOS fun, and natural.